Jakarta needs more trees

Jakarta needs more trees

Your correspondent Robert Kelly makes some pertinent points in
his article entitled Rolling back Jakarta's unhealthy urban
desert(The Jakarta Post, Aug. 6). The green areas that still
exist in greater Jakarta really need to be maintained whether
they are part of existing parks e.g. Taman Mini or tree lined
streets such as those in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta.

It is depressing to see the state of parts of the Senayan
Sports Center, not to mention the growing number of gaps in the
magnificent rain trees that line Jl. Sudirman. To make matters
worse, when replanting does occur, there seems to be a tendency
to plant decorative palm trees, or faster growing but short
varieties.

In contrast, when Kebayoran Baru was laid out as a satellite
town of Jakarta, its landscape architects took a fifty year view
for their tree planting.

Recently, there have been efforts by the city authorities to
upgrade certain public spaces, often to good effect. The park
around the National Monument (Monas) and the general appearance
of government buildings in the area is a credit to the
authorities. It would constitute a fine legacy if, as Kelly
suggests, the Jakarta administration extended this effort and
embarked on a program of tree planting throughout the city. This
is even more urgent in view of the introduction of much needed
mass transit systems, which are bound to put further pressure on
the city's trees.

WILLIAM DANIEL
Jakarta